Beginnings of Troy
by Necky
Summary: My first bit of writing on anything so any comments gratefully received, Constructive ones that is, just a story I made up.


Chapter 1 eneck Normal eneck 2 396 2001-11-03T15:29:00Z 2001-11-06T11:18:00Z 2001-11-06T11:18:00Z 19 8840 36248 788 132 61886 9.3821 

Chapter 1

It was the dead of the night when most people were sleeping in their beds, those that weren't were probably in nightclubs, dancing and drinking the night away, in the hopes of finding the perfect man.

Coming out of one of those clubs was a tall, slim, pretty girl, wearing black leather jeans, a red vest and a black leather jacket. Walking down the street after spending most of the night in the most popular club in town, she smiled as she thought of how many men had bought her drinks; she hadn't spent a dime all night.

One such man was watching her now, from across the street, standing in the shadows, watching as she turned the corner and started heading east.

Troy was thinking how nice the evening was, OK so she may be slightly drunk, but it wasn't to cold and she didn't live to far away, so she thought she'd walk home. 'Home' what a joke that was, a crummy mattress in a rundown warehouse. The type that if it was in the right part of town would be done up by some property developer and sold for a fortune. Troy was getting hungry now, so she dug in her coat pocket where she had stashed some money away and bought herself a burger off a street vendor.

Troy wasn't the only one who was hungry, the man who had been following her was now very hungry, and waiting for his opportunity to get himself some food. 'How much further is she going to go, she must live near here or she would have gotten a cab from the lot that was outside the club' he thought.

After eating the burger the effects of the alcohol were wearing off, she'd always been like that, it didn't matter how much alcohol she'd drunk, she would never get really drunk not like she'd seen some people, unable to stand let alone walk.

As she stood at the corner waiting to cross the road, she suddenly had a cold shiver run down her spine, she looked around and realised that she was standing all alone on the street. Just then something caught her eye in the doorway of the shop across the street, but it was to dark to get a proper look, she dismissed it then as her imagination playing tricks on her. Still, just to be on the safe side she decided to walk a little quicker as she crossed the street.

As he was standing there in the shadows he felt sure that she had seen him, he had seen her looking straight at the shop doorway where he had stood. He had wanted to walk out there and then, no one was around, he could have run across the street and grabbed her, but she would have had a chance to run. Still, he noticed now that she was walking a little bit quicker than she had been and was getting nervous as she walked her usual way home he smiled to himself as he liked this even more.

Troy was sure someone was following her, 'Damn' she thought, there was nothing around here but old factory buildings. Maybe she could walk a little further and hit some more populated streets, no, she felt sure that wouldn't work, as he would know what she was doing and then he would attack her. Well if he was going to attack her anyway she might as well see if she can lose him.

Then she remembered the old factory around the corner, she had gone in there once or twice, checking to see if it would be better living conditions than at present, she remembered all those corridors and stairs and she had even got lost in there, 'great' she thought, it was worth a shot. She looked over her shoulder and saw him crossing the street, she couldn't quite see the details of his face, but she knew he was looking at her, watching every move she made, Troy turned the corner and practically ran the rest of the way.

'Damn' he thought, she's seen me, well he knew it had been a risk but one he had to take, and he felt sure that she knew he was there anyway. 'This was going to be fun' he thought, he liked it when they ran from him in fear of their lives. When he turned the corner he saw her go inside a building, 'odd' he thought, he had felt sure that she would have headed back to a more populated area, they usually did.

As she opened the door, she saw him turn the corner into the street; she guessed that she'd have a couple of minutes before he caught up with her. Troy was standing in the main plant area, to her left was all the machinery needed to make whatever it was they'd been making here, the offices were to her right, so she ran to the door marked "STAFF ONLY," she carried on down the corridor, passing all these other offices, she did think of hiding in one of them but figured the guy would find her to easy. So, at the end of the corridor she turned left and through some double doors where the stairwell was, as she went up the stairs she heard the front door slam shut. 'Oh God, Please don't let him catch me' she thought. 

As she got to the top of the stairs, she stood still a minute to hear if he was coming this way, but all she could hear was her heart beating, she felt sure that he would hear it as well, it sounded so loud to her.

Troy carried on down the corridor until she got to a door marked "Managers Office," she opened the door and slipped inside as quietly as possible. On her right were floor to ceiling windows, which overlooked the plant below. As she looked around the room she saw the large oak desk and a chair, it wasn't perfect but it would do, 'he might not see me behind here' she thought, she grabbed the chair and stuck it beneath the handle of the door, 'that might make him think the door was locked, or maybe hold him off for a minute or two' she thought.

As she crouched behind the desk she could hear him coming up the stairs, he was talking, "Come out, Come out, wherever you are, I promise I'll make it quick if you come out now." The handle of the door began to move and she knew he was pushing the door, but the chair was holding it shut; she would have breathed a sigh of relief if she thought he wouldn't hear it. Just then she could hear a noise, it sounded like more footsteps on the stairs, 'Oh no, not more of them, I was sure I only saw one' she thought.

Troy could hear some noises outside the door, but she couldn't really hear them that well, as she was behind the desk, she held her breath to see if that would help, and still she could hear nothing. All of a sudden she could hear the door handle rattling again, 'Oh God, he knows I'm in here!' she thought, which was followed by a loud crash as the door was kicked in, bits of glass and wood went everywhere.

As the dust began to settle, she thought she'd just have a look to see if maybe she could hit him with some of the wood that was lying around, and then if he wasn't to big throw him out of the window, 'Yes' she thought, 'that's what I'll do, instead of cowering behind this desk, I'll show him.'

So, she grabbed a piece of wood that was by the leg of the desk, and as she looked up, he was there standing above her, as he went to grab her everything went black…

  


Chapter 2

Sometime later, in the offices of Wolfram and Hart, sitting behind his desk was Lindsey McDonald, admiring his new office and the new pay rise he'd just had. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, "Come in" he said. In walked Lilah Morgan, a rising lawyer in the firm, "It didn't work" she said, that caught Lindsey's attention, "What do you mean, it didn't work?" he said, fearing the worst. Lilah continued by saying "well, apparently everything was going well, he had her trapped in an office downtown, when HE showed up" looking slightly annoyed that the plan had failed as well. "So I suppose we can now assume that he has her?" Lindsey said, 'Holland's going to love this' he thought, I was supposed to take care of the problem, it was my chance to prove to him that I wasn't having any doubts anymore.

"We have to find a way to get her out of his control" he said, more to himself than to anyone else. "Well, what makes you think that she'll stay with him anyway?" "I mean, she's had no parents, ran away from foster care and has been living on the street for 5 years, she doesn't trust anyone, what makes you think she'll trust a vampire?" said Lilah.

Lindsey thought about this for a moment and then said, "Because he'll make her trust him, he'll use the British guy and Miss Chase to help him." "No, we have to find another way, she won't be staying with him forever, she'll have to go back to that hovel sometime or another, and when she does we'll grab her."

Lilah looked at Lindsey and said "What do you mean, 'we will,' what if she uses her powers on us, no, I think we should use a demon to do the job this time, it would be stronger than a vampire anyway." 

Lindsey thought about this for a minute, "Sure, we'll go with your plan this time, but it better work, or he'll know something is up, and we'll never get another chance, and I don't think we need worry about her powers stopping us, she doesn't even realise she has them." He said as he smiled to himself.

The rest of the day was spent planning and finding the right demon for the job. When this was done a scout was sent out to find out where she was. They were to phone Lindsey the minute she stepped out of Angel's office. 

  


Chapter 3

Troy was enjoying her dream as she was lying on a beach, where the sand was nearly white and the sea was a lovely turquoise blue, just like she'd seen on the TV on those holiday programs, when she started to remember what happened, this man was chasing her and then he was standing over her. 

She awoke with a start, and wondered where she was; this didn't look like the office she'd been hiding in. In fact it looked like an old hotel room. Troy slowly moved her head and saw that she was lying on a bed in the middle of the room. 'Oh my God' she thought, 'he's kidnapped me!' Just as she was deciding what to do the door opened, 'it was him!' she thought, she wanted to get up and run but she couldn't move, at first she wondered if he'd tied her up, but she soon realised that she was to scared to move.

As she was watching him coming towards her she saw another man enter the room, only he just stood by the door. 'Great' she thought 'now I'll never get out.' 

The first man was now walking towards the bed, he was holding something in his hand, and it looked like a drink of some sort. Troy certainly wasn't going to drink anything he gave her, as she felt sure it would be poisoned. He put the glass on a little table by the bed, and still she couldn't move.

Troy eventually managed to look at his face, he had short dark hair, and was tall and stocky, he looked very strong.

Troy managed to speak, even though it was just a whisper, "Please don't hurt me" she said. The man said in a very serious and quiet tone, "I'm not going to hurt you, my name is Angel." Troy thought that was a little ironic considering what he was, but she thought she better not say that to him as he might get annoyed and bite her.

This Angel then went on to say that the man by the door was his associate Wesley, this Wesley then said "Good Morning" in the most loveliest of accents Troy had ever heard, she wondered where he was from. Although this greeting confused her slightly as she couldn't quite believe that it was morning as the curtains were still drawn.

Angel was asking her "What's your name?" Troy got up enough courage to say her name and then ask him what happened. Angel went on to explain that they saw this person following her, and when she went inside the building and he followed they thought there'd be trouble. Once they were inside the factory they took a minute or two to find their way around, and it wasn't until they heard the guy speaking that they realised that she was upstairs. Angel carried on explaining that when they got to the top of the stairs he was standing outside that door, when the attacker saw them they got into a fight. Angel said that when him and Wesley had seen off the man they then came into the office and that's when they found her.

They said that she must have collapsed through shock, so they took her to their home to rest. Troy wasn't sure if they was telling the truth or not, but this Wesley seemed nice. So she thought she'd put them to the test and see if they'd let her get up. When they made no objections, Troy asked, "Can I go?" she felt sure they'd come up with some reason why she'd have to stay there. When Wesley said he could give her a lift home. Troy said, "No, it's ok, I'll walk, it's not that far" she didn't care if it was miles away she was too embarrassed to tell him where she lived.

Angel then said, "Let Wesley take you home, as I'm sure your parents will be very worried by now" Troy didn't know what to say to that, what if she told him the truth, that she had no parents and lived on the street, she felt sure he would insist on her staying there, so she just said "OK," maybe she could dodge this Wesley somehow.

When she got outside the room she'd been in, Troy realised that she was in an old hotel; she thought this guy must be very rich to own a hotel. 

When she came down the stairs with them into the main foyer of the hotel, she saw this beautiful woman behind the desk; she wore fashionable clothes and had long brown hair. Immediately Troy felt very scruffy compared to her, and she thought she probably did look it, even though she'd 'borrowed' these clothes from a shop to go to the club, she still felt very scruffy.

Angel introduced the woman as Cordelia, and she said "Hi," "Hello" said Troy, although she wished she could have said some witty remark, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.

While Troy was standing there thinking of something to say to Cordelia, Wesley had walked over to a window overlooking the street, he said to Angel "He's still there," "The same man we saw earlier?" said Angel, "Yes" Wesley replied walking back to where they were all standing, he then asked Angel "What do you think we should do?"

Angel thought for a moment and turned to Troy and said, "Do you know why anyone would want you followed?" Troy said "No," and thought they was just coming up with excuses as to why she couldn't go home, she had never wanted to return to that crummy mattress so much in all her life. Troy thought she'd have a look to see if there really was a man outside waiting for her to come out.

When she got to the window and saw the car across the street, she realised that they weren't lying. The man inside the car had short brown hair and was wearing a denim jacket, and he also looked like he worked out a lot! Troy was sure she hadn't seen him before, but then her eyesight was not that great.

Troy realised that they were waiting for her answer, so she turned around to face them and said, "I don't think I've seen him before." "What makes you think he's following me?"

Wesley had to admit she had a point "She's right Angel, we don't really know that it's Troy they're after, it could be for some other reason," "True, but then it's a bit of a coincidence that they only turn up after we bring Troy here, and only hours after she is attacked" said Angel. 

Troy was starting to get a little fed up with all their talking, she was tired but most of all hungry! She'd only had that burger yesterday in any moment her stomach would start to rumble, she felt sure this guy had nothing to do with her, I mean why would anyone want her followed, it was crazy.

Troy realised that Angel had been asking her a question, "What?" she said. Angel then repeated "Perhaps we could phone your parents and tell them your safe, until we figure out what to do about the man outside."

Troy had to think fast, "Umm, they're not on the phone" she said a little to quickly. Angel just looked for a moment and Troy could feel her cheeks burning and she felt sure he knew she'd just lied.

Angel turned to Wesley and said, "I'll call Gunn, and he can go with you." Angel then turned and walked to one of the rooms behind the front desk. 

While she was standing there, Cordelia asked, "Do you want some coffee? Help yourself." Actually what Troy wanted was some food but coffee would do for now. By the time Troy was drinking her coffee Angel walked out of his office and said, "he's on his way." All the time Angel had been in his office, Wesley had just watched Troy.

Wesley had been thinking that there was something odd about the way this girl was acting. It was as if she knew that Angel was a vampire, she wouldn't look him in the eye, and jumped every time he spoke to her. It was also odd that she never mentioned anything about any family worrying about her whereabouts. After all, she was a young girl who had been out all night, so Wesley thought 'while were waiting for Gunn to arrive he'd ask her a few things.' 

"What do your parents do for a living Troy?" Troy looked up from her coffee and seemed a little shocked by the question, "Um, Mum doesn't work and dad's a… cab driver, he works nights a lot." He felt sure now that she was lying. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" he asked, Wesley caught a look on her face that was only there for a second, he felt sure now that she was trying to think of an answer. "Yes, a little brother, he's only 5, that's why she don't work" she answered. Angel then thought he'd ask her "Where do you go to school" but before Troy could answer the front door opened.

In walked this big black guy, but it wasn't that, that scared Troy the most, it was what he was carrying.

"Was happening guys, where's the trouble?" said Gunn, "I brought my new axe along, thought I might get to use it." 

Angel could see the look of terror on Troy's face and he could smell her fear. So Angel stepped in front of Gunn and said "Gunn, this is Troy, I want you to go with Wesley and take her home." "Sure thing man" said Gunn, looking over this young white girl.

Angel then turned to Troy, to speak to her, and Troy involuntary took a step back from him, "Wesley and Gunn will take you home, and you'll be safe with them" he said.

Troy had to wonder about that, she was going to be in a car with a guy with a very large axe, at least Wesley didn't look like he could hurt her, but protecting her was another matter, and Troy wasn't quite sure that she needed protecting anyway, but she went along with the suggestion just to get out of there.

Chapter 4

Outside she had to get into the back of this great black convertible car, seeing as the hood was back it would be a lot easier for her to get out in a hurry. Troy was planning on telling them to go to the local school and drop her off outside, she could then go her own way from there.

Wesley pulled off from the kerb and started driving down the road, and he wasn't the only one doing that, the guy in the dark blue Ford Lincoln did as well, he also got on his cellular phone and dialled the number for Wolfram & Hart, "Lindsey? This is Jack, I've just started following her now, you were right she was at that address, she's in the car with two guys, one has glasses and the other ones a black guy." 

Back in his office Lindsey said "let me know where they drop her off to, just keep your eyes on the girl" "Sure thing boss," said Jack and he hung up the phone. Jack thought 'this was going to be the easiest money he's earned in a while.'

In Angel's car Wesley was keeping a close eye on the car that was following them. Troy had told him to head downtown as her and her parents lived in an apartment, quite close to the club she came out of last night.

Troy had decided what to do, when they came to the next set of traffic lights, which wasn't that far off now, she would jump out of the car and run as fast as she could. Troy didn't believe that they would catch her as she hoped the element of surprise would delay them enough for her to get away.

As Wesley pulled to a stop at some traffic lights, just a block now from the club, she decided it was now or never, she checked to make sure they weren't watching her, as she suspected they were both to busy watching the car that was following them. Troy quickly jumped over the side of the car and ran as quickly as she could down the street towards the club.

"Shit" said Gunn, "I'll go after her, you follow in the car," and before Wesley could reply Gunn was off down the street after her. Wesley noticed that the other car suddenly switched lanes and sped down the road after Gunn and Troy. Unfortunately Wesley had to wait until the lights changed before he could move off.

As Troy turned the corner she saw that Gunn was also out of the car chasing her, 'Damn, I'll just have to try and outrun him' she thought, her plan was to run up and down the alleys hoping there might be enough of a gap between her and Gunn to hide either behind or in something.

This plan was starting to work as she could see that she was getting further and further away from Gunn, but she hadn't built up enough of a gap as of yet to have enough time to hide somewhere. Troy was halfway down another one of these alley's when she could see a big chain link fence up ahead of her, it was at least twice her size, she tried to jump over it but couldn't get a good grip, as she fell back down Gunn came down the alley, puffing and panting, closely followed by Wesley who having seen Troy's dilemma had parked his car at the top of the alley.

Troy realised now what it was like to be an animal trapped in a corner. As they were walking towards her she spotted a piece of pipe in the corner by the fence, she grabbed this and shouted, "Stay where you are!" Wesley and Gunn were about 50 yards from her and immediately stopped. "It's ok Troy, were not going to hurt you, please put the pipe down." Wesley said.

"No way, you stay right there, I'm not afraid to use this!" She said, hoping she sounded braver than she felt.

Watching all this from the safety of his car was Jack, he thought he'd better call his boss to see what could be done. "Lindsey, we have a problem," said Jack, he could tell that Lindsey was not pleased about this at all. "Go on" was all he said. "Well, the girl jumped out of their car, but don't worry I know where she is, trouble is, those other guys are talking to her right now."

Lindsey wasn't quite sure what was going on, Jack wasn't exactly explaining himself very well. "Describe what's going on right now," he said, "Well, she's down an alley in front of a fence, she can't go anywhere, and those guys are talking to her," he told Lindsey. Lindsey then said that he should leave it to him, and he hung up. 'Great' thought Jack, maybe phoning him wasn't such a good idea.

Back in the alley Wesley wasn't making much progress, "I don't care what you say, I ain't going anywhere with you!" she said. Troy could see people passing the end of the alley; she could even hear police sirens off in the distance, but she knew no-one would help, people didn't in this day and age, they just looked the other way.

"Look, you keep saying I might be in danger, but if you ask me, it's you are the ones who are in trouble."  She said. "uh, what you talking 'bout girl?" said Gunn. Troy thought 'OK I'll spell it out to them then' "You're the ones who work for a vampire, and there's no way in hell I'm going back there with you lot." She said. 

Wesley just looked a minute, he was sure they hadn't said anything about Angel to her, how would she know? But before he could ask he realised the police sirens had been getting louder, and now two pulled to a stop at the end of the alley.

'Oh great' they all thought as this was just what they needed. Three police offices came walking down the alley while one remained by the car.

They all looked basically the same, the only differences was age and facial appearance. There was one very young office that looked like he wasn't that long out of the academy. Another officer was slightly older with a moustache and the last one looked the oldest, and probably the most senior of them all, it was this guy that did the talking. "Put down the pipe, nice and slowly." He said. Troy didn't need telling twice, so she put it down and kicked a little bit away from her, she noticed that all the cops immediately looked a lot more relaxed, but their hands remained near their guns.

"Ok, so what's going on here? Anyone care to explain?" he said, first looking at Troy and then Wesley and Gunn for an explanation. Troy certainly wasn't going to tell them anything, as it already looked very bad for her. It was Wesley who spoke first "Officer my name is Wesley Wyndham-Price there seems to have been a bit of a misunderstanding between us." "Oh yeah? So what's this _misunderstanding_ about then?" he said, with an emphasis on the 'misunderstanding', not sounding at all impressed with this lot, but before anyone could answer, he turned to Troy and said "and while were at it maybe you could explain why you was holding a dangerous weapon? Or was that just a misunderstanding as well?"

Troy was trying to come up with a good answer but she couldn't think of anything, so she decided to stay quiet, "No, well maybe y'all better explain yourself down at the station." He said, "You're arresting me!" Troy asked incredulously, "Why?" she continued, the cop just looked at her and then said "Carrying a dangerous weapon," and he took a hold of Troy's arm and started walking her down the alley. 

He turned to his colleagues and told them to bring the other two as well, so Wesley, Gunn and Troy were all escorted to the awaiting police cars, Troy was put in one on her own and Wesley and Gunn had the other one, Troy was just thinking 'this day couldn't get any worse.'

Chapter 5

At the police station they were all fingerprinted, and had their pictures taken. Wesley and Gunn were immediately released, as there was nothing to hold them for. 

Troy on the other hand was going to have to stay there for a while, as she was refusing to say why she was holding the pipe, and once her information had been fed into the computer they found that she had a criminal record, mainly for theft, and an outstanding warrant for theft. As she was a minor they were waiting for someone to arrive from Welfare to sit in on any questioning.

As soon as Wesley and Gunn were released they called Angel and told him of the situation, it didn't take him long to get there, where he found his friends waiting, they explained what had happened. Wesley also said "She knows who you are," looking pointedly at Angel so he knew what he meant by it, "How's that possible, we never told her," said Angel, looking at Wesley for an explanation. "No, and I don't think she knows how either."

Just then Kate Lockley walked towards them, "Angel, what are you doing here?" she said, not sounding or looking very pleased to see him and his friends. "A friend of mine was picked up by some officers earlier, I was hoping I could see her?" he said, hoping she might help him, although he didn't think she would. "Oh yeah, who's that then?" she said, "Troy Walters" he answered, he was going to explain what she looked like but the look on Kate's face told him there was no need. "Well your going to have a long wait before you get to see her" she said, looking a little bit pleased with herself. "Why, what's happening?" said Angel, looking a little confused that this 16-year-old girl could be in so much trouble.

"Well, she has an outstanding warrant against her, for theft, she is also refusing to talk to any of us about what happened today, we are now waiting for someone from Welfare to turn up and take her to a care home, oh and her lawyers are on the way," said Kate, and she was going to leave and carry on doing what she was supposed to be doing when Angel asked, "Lawyer? What firm's this?" although he had a sneaking suspicion about who it might be. The look on Kate's face confirmed what he'd been thinking, at least that was something; she hated them as much as he did.

"Kate, please, I have to talk to her before they do," he said. Kate just looked at him for a moment and said, "give me one good reason why I should!" Angel didn't have to think to long about that one, "She's just a kid, and she lives on the street and needs help, Wolfram & Hart won't help her they'll just use her." Kate sighed and roller her eyes, she couldn't believe that she was going to help this man. "I'll see what I can do" and with that she walked off.

After 15 minutes had passed they were beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen, they then saw Kate walking towards them, "You get 5 minutes and that's it" she said, Angel got up and started after her.

Angel was led into a room with three holding cells along the back wall, and a small desk was in the middle of the room, with a chair on either side and they were bolted to the floor. On the walls of the room there was graffiti and wanted posters.  Altogether it was not the most welcoming of rooms.

Sitting, hugging her legs on a cot bed in the middle cell was Troy, looked very tired and scared as what might happen next. She looked up when Lockley started to open her door, Troy took a moment to focus her eyes on her surroundings, she could see a women opening her door, so she got up, she thought that they were going to be asking her more questions, but when she got outside the cell she saw Angel standing by the desk. Troy wasn't sure what to do at first, but she decided that the woman probably wasn't going to leave them alone so she would be OK.

But then Kate said, "Right, 5 minutes and I'll be back," looking pointedly at Angel as she said this. Troy couldn't quite believe it! If only she knew what he was really like, she wouldn't have even let him in here, let alone left her alone with him. Troy was getting tired of being scared so she just sighed and sat down on one of the chairs, by this time she couldn't have cared less if he had bit her.

Angel had been watching Troy since he had come into this dismal room, despite her actions earlier he could see the bravado wearing off. When she had come out of the cell he had caught her sense of fear at seeing him standing there, but it went as quick as it had come, and now all he could see was this tired little girl, so when she sat down he did as well.

Troy was waiting for him to speak, she couldn't bring herself to look at him so she just stared at the top of the desk, she couldn't quite read what people had scratched in the top and she wasn't sure if she wanted to even if she could have.

"Troy, Wesley tells me that you know what I am? Is that right?" Angel started by saying; "Yes" was all Troy said while still staring at the desk. "How did you know?" Angel asked, as he wasn't sure how much she knew. At this Troy looked up, but even then she could only bring herself to look at his chest, "well, your sort look a bit distinctive," she replied sarcastically, "I mean sharp pointy teeth, overhanging brow, not exactly normal looking" she couldn't believe he was asking such dumb questions.

"Did you ever wonder how you could see vampires?" he continued, ignoring her sarcasm. "Well can't everyone?" she said a little surprised, "no, I don't always look like a vampire." Said Angel, "You have a gift Troy, the ability to see things for what or who they really are," he continued. Troy just thought 'it doesn't feel like a gift, more like a curse.'

Angel thought he had better start warning her about Wolfram & Hart as time was running out, "because of this some people will want to take advantage of this, and they will also fear you." "Fear me!" she asked incredulously, "I'm just a kid, who would be scared of me?" she asked Angel. "People who don't want you to see them for who they really are" he told her, "like a company called Wolfram & Hart, have you heard of them?" he asked her, Troy just shook her head 'no.' "They are a law firm, they defend vampires and demons they also invent lies for their '_clients'_" Angel told her.

"Well thanks for the warning, but what's this got to do with me?" she asked, wondering where this conversation was going. Angel told her matter of factly, "they are on their way here to represent you." At this Troy looked up at him, tolerating what she could see for a moment, "but I never called any lawyers" she told him. "It doesn't matter, they know about you and they will try to talk you into letting them represent you" Angel explained, he was about to tell her a bit more about them when Kate opened the door, "time's up" she said. Angel looked at Kate, he could see that it was useless to try and ask for some more time, so he slowly got up from the desk, he did want to stay though as Troy looked like she could use the company.

Troy got up ready to go back to the cell when Kate said "Your lawyer is here, I'll bring him here in a minute," Troy looked at Angel and she thought she'd take a risk by asking for a favour, "Would you do me a favour?" "Sure" he said, "Would you go to where I sleep and pick up my things before someone else takes them?" she asked him, "No problem leave it to me" he said and he even sounded quite pleased that she had asked.

After they had left Troy was thinking about what Angel had told her, 'why did she have to have this gift? And that was another thing, it didn't feel like much of a gift' she was getting depressed now, her she was in a grey, smelly room locked up like some animal, she hadn't meant to steal any money, but she had needed it to buy some food and warm clothes.

The door to the room opened and in walked Lindsey, looking very smart in his suit, he set his briefcase on the desk, and sat down in the same chair that only minutes earlier his enemy had been sitting in, and Lindsey didn't know that Angel had been talking to Troy. He sat a moment looking at this girl who was causing his firm so much trouble, all he saw was a dirty, skinny kid in fact he looked like any other homeless child he'd seen.

At his silence Troy looked up at him and just stared, 'well at least I'm not looking at a vampire' she thought, but still there was something about him, she couldn't say what, that made her not trust a word he said, and it wasn't just because Angel had told her not to either.

"Troy Walters? My name is Lindsey McDonald, I'm from a firm called Wolfram & Hart, I'm here to represent you," he told her, as if it was already a foregone conclusion.

"I never called any lawyers, and I can't afford to hire any either" she told him, "It's alright about the money were doing the case pro bono" he told her, as if everything was decided and she had no say in the matter, this made her dislike him even more. "I see" was all she said.

Lindsey looked at her for a moment he couldn't understand why she was so frosty to him, after all here he was offering her a free ticket out of here, "You understand, if my firm represents you, I could have you out of here" and with that he looked around the small dismal room with disgust, he continued by telling her, "probably within the hour"

Troy just looked at him and thought 'OK I've had enough of all this crap now' so she told him, "What makes you think I'd want to leave anyway?" Lindsey just looked at her as if she'd gone mad, "Why would you want to stay here?" he said, still shocked. "Well it's warm, dry and I get 3 hot meals a day and I have a comfortable bed, so maybe you should tell me why I would want to leave?" well she had stretched the point about the bed being comfortable but she could see he was struggling for an answer, so she continued by saying "Anyway I have no where else to live even if I did let you get me out."

The last point Troy had made pleased Lindsey as this was something he could sort out for her and he could ignore her other questions so he quietly and calmly said, "our firm has a number of houses that we would gladly put you up in, and believe you me they are far more comfortable than here," this was not going as he'd planned, he thought the girl would have jumped at the chance to live in a nice house, after all, he had been.

"I don't understand, why do you want to help me?" asked Troy, Lindsey looked for a moment wondering how much he should tell this simple girl, "well because my firm believes that you would benefit the most from our help, and everyone needs help now and again" he said. It was getting late now and Troy was getting tired, she wanted to get rid of this guy and just go to sleep, so she looked him in the eye and said "Thanks, but no thanks" and with that she got up and went and stood by the cell door, signifying the end of the conversation.

Lindsey was to shocked to do anything for a moment, but then realised that he wouldn't be able to change her mind, put his papers back in the briefcase and got up to leave, at the door he turned to look at her and said "if you change your mind, my card is on the table" and then he walked out the door.

A minute later a guard opened Troy's cell door and she laid down on the cot and fell fast asleep.

Chapter 6

In another part of town was Wesley and Angel, Gunn having gone home after being released from the police station, while Lindsey had been talking to Troy they had driven to the abandoned warehouse where Troy said she'd been sleeping.

As they pulled up in the car they took a look around at the smashed in windows and debris lying everywhere. They followed Troy's directions to the back of the building, down a corridor and into what was once a office, the place was dark, damp and it was the same temperature inside the building as it was outside.

Inside the office they could make out the mattress up against the far wall, on the mattress was a blanket with some holes in also a small dirty teddy bear and a photo of a family. Wesley took out a bag he'd been carrying, but before he put anything in he said to Angel, "This is terrible, how could anyone live her?" Angel looked at the state of the items and said, "I know, just pick up anything personal," while Wesley was putting the bear and photo in the bag, Angel heard a noise, he thought it sounded like grunting, he looked at one part of the wall where it was just wooden slats, and there in the darkness he could just see a pair of yellow eyes.

Just as he spotted them so the demon came crashing through the wall ready to attack, Angel was caught momentarily off guard and the demon sent him across the room. Wesley on seeing this tried to help by attacking the demon and hitting him across his back, the demon just turned around, "Oh dear" said Wesley, and the demon sent him flying across the room and slammed into a wall. By now Angel was up and started hitting the demon in the face, chest and stomach area. The demon soon realised that he wasn't getting anywhere and when he saw his chance stumbled out of the room and away into the night.

Angel then went and helped Wesley up, "thanks" said Wesley, as he went and picked up Troy's things, Angel was thinking how strange it was that the demon was here, Angel said to Wesley "he was after something" "Or someone" replied Wesley.

  


Chapter 7

Back at the police station, a cop opened her cell door and suddenly woke Troy up. "Come on" he said, "Where am I going?" she asked him groggily, "You got visitors" was all he told her, he didn't seem very happy about this at all so Troy got up and went to the door and just followed behind him, she saw from a clock on the wall that it was about 3am, and she wondered who could be visiting her at this hour.

The cop lead her into a interview room where she saw the detective that was in charge of her case, Morley, as well as this women, who was very smartly dressed, holding a file, a briefcase was on the table, for a moment Troy thought it was another lawyer but Morley introduced her as Lilah Morgan, from Welfare.

Morley told her, "Miss Morgan has found you a home to go to tonight, so you're leaving with her." 'Great, at least by tomorrow morning, well later on this morning, I'll be able to leave and go my own way again' thought Troy, she realised that Miss Morgan had been speaking to her, "Sorry, what did you say?" she asked Lilah, "If your ready we can go?" Lilah repeated, "Where am I going to?" if it were a children's home it would be even easier to get away. Lilah said, "a foster family out on Hudson Drive," Troy had to think where that was for a moment, and then she remembered that it was in a posh part of town. Troy turned to Morley and asked if it was OK to make her phone call? "Sure, this way" as he was walking towards the door Troy caught a look on Miss Morgan's face, it was only there briefly, but Troy knew that she was worried about her making this call, although why she would be Troy couldn't work out.

Morley led Troy to the phone on his desk and dialled the number that she gave him; he then left her to it. When no-one answered Troy waited for the answering machine to kick in, she then said "Angel, sorry it's late, but I'm being moved to some foster parents on Hudson Drive, a Miss Lilah Morgan my welfare officer, is taking me there now, I was wondering if you could bring my things by later in the morning, Thanks" and with that she hung up.

When Lilah and Troy got to Hudson Drive the street was in total darkness, the houses were all set back off the street, gardens were all perfectly mowed, Troy thought it all looked like a movie set. They pulled into the driveway of this one house; it was the only one in the street that had lights on.

Both Lilah and Troy walked up to the front door; Lilah rang the doorbell while Troy stood a little back from the entrance. Troy was nervous; she wasn't sure what they'd make of this scruffy, probably smelly, young girl standing on their doorstep at about 4am.

When the door opened there stood this immaculately dressed woman, she was wearing black jeans and a pale blue blouse, no make up but then she was the type of person who didn't need any. Lilah introduced herself and Troy and the lady then told Lilah and Troy to come on in, they stepped into the hallway, which was very tastefully decorated with expensive furniture, at the end of the hallway was stairs to what Troy assumed was the bedrooms.

The lady led them into a room off the right of the main hall, the lounge, which was similarly decorated, like something out of a magazine, in this room was a man who Troy assumed was this woman's husband, he was wearing a suit, but the tie was undone and he didn't have his jacket on, Troy thought he looked like one of them models out of a magazine, in fact they both did and Troy was beginning to get a bit suspicious as this was a bit to perfect.

Lilah started off the introductions "Troy, this is David and Angela Cole," "Hello" they both said. It was David who spoke first, "Please sit down, are you hungry, thirsty?" he asked, "Yes thanks" answered Troy, who in truth was starving. So Angela left to go to the kitchen to make Troy a sandwich and fix her a drink.

So Lilah and Troy both sat on the large comfortable leather sofas, Troy thought 'If I sit here to long I just might fall asleep here.' David then said "As soon as you finish your supper we'll show you to your room, as I'm sure your tired,"  "Thanks, yeah I am tired, it's been a long day" Troy said, David just nodded at this and looked at Lilah.

Then Angela came back in the room carrying a tray with 3 cups of coffee and a coke, in a glass no cans here, and a plate of sandwiches, she set this down on the coffee table and gave Troy her sandwiches and drink, and then sat down next to her husband opposite Troy.

Troy was indeed hungry and quickly ate the sandwiches, and drank her coke, while the others just drank their coffees. Angela was the first to break the silence and said "Would you like to go to your room now?"  As she was putting her cup back down on the tray. Troy couldn't wait to go to sleep, she was getting very tired now, and in fact she had trouble keeping her eyes open, Troy noticed that all of a sudden the room blurred and she was then fast asleep.

Lilah moved first and put her coffee down and said "We haven't much time, so lets get moving." They laid Troy out on the sofa and started moving the chairs to the edge of the room. There was a knock on the door and David went and let Lindsey in, "About time" he said, "it's nearly dawn and it would have been too late then." Lilah just looked at him and told him to calm down and not worry so much.

  


Chapter 8

When Angel got back to the office, having dropped Wesley off at home, he dropped the back of Troy's things on the desk, and noticed the answering machine light was blinking, he thought he better get it as it might be important. 

He hit play and listened to Troy tell him about where she was going to be, he then knew the reason why all this had been happening to her, he quickly picked up the keys to the car and ran back out. 

He drove over to Wesley's place and told him the situation on the way to the car, and they both agreed that it was better if they also picked up Gunn on the way. After filling in Gunn on what had been happening, Gunn asked, "How the hell we going to know which house she be in? They all look the same to me?" just as they were pulling into the street, they then realised that this would not be a problem as they recognised Lindsey's car in the driveway of the house.

All three leapt out of the car and started to run up to the house, something was obviously going on, as there was some flashing lights and a lot of noise. 

They burst open the door, and immediately stop as facing them is the she demon, Hera, who is about 7 feet tall and about 2 feet wide! Wesley utters a little "Oh dear," as Angel looks around and sees a sleeping Troy, still on the sofa and to the side of Hera, while Lindsey, Lilah, Angela and David are behind it. 

Angela and David are already heading towards the kitchen having decided that they want no part in what is to come, and Lindsey angrily tells Angel "Your to late, the ritual has already started." With that Angel replied, "We'll see about that" and starts to move toward Hera taking out his sword, just as he aims it at her, she moves towards him and hits him clear across the room, Wesley and Gunn just look at each other in amazement.

Hera states, "You cannot stop me, the gift will be mine" and laughs very loudly, she then turns back towards Troy and proceeds to chant some Latin. Seeing this diversion Wesley and Gunn start approaching her, Wesley going one way and Gunn another way, by this time Angel has also started to get to his feet and sees what the other two are doing.

Hera first sees Wesley and makes to hit him across the room, he ducks and she misses him by an inch, seeing his opportunity Gunn and Angel attack, both of them chopping at her at the same time, Hera is screaming and thrashing about but they carry on, and soon enough Hera falls to her knees and dies.

Seeing their chance to escape Lindsey and Lilah make a run for the door, Angel decides to let them go as his more immediate concern is for Troy. As Troy is still fast asleep and oblivious to what has just taken place they decide to take her back to the office.

On the way back to the office Angel drops of Gunn and Wesley and tells them he'll see them later, and there is no immediate danger for Troy.

Later on that morning when Wesley and Cordelia have arrived and Angel has filled Cordelia in on what has happened. Troy starts to come around she awakens to find she is in the same Hotel room she was in a couple of days ago, as she tries to sit up her head starts pounding and she lets out a groan, on hearing this Angel and the gang come over, Angel asks "Are you ok?" "Sure" says Troy, "But how come I'm here? Last thing I remember was being in this large house in the hills" So they then proceeded to tell her what had happened and why.

After they had explained everything and she'd had a little something to eat, Troy's headache was easing; she only really had one question to ask, "What is a seer?" It was Wesley who answered  "It's someone who can see the real truth of someone's personality, so that's how you were able to see Angel's true identity." Troy just nodded her head and looked again at Angel, whom she was no longer scared to look at.

THE END


End file.
